Peering Through the Cracks
by Sgamer82
Summary: Inspector Sango Yokomizo remembers something, a small detail that sends him and his brother Jugo on a quest to find answers to the mystery of Ai Haibara. But how much can two men discover when they lack the most critical clues of all? Written for Poirot Cafe's 6-8k Writing Competition #2 - Personality
1. Prologue

_**Detective Conan  
**_ _Peering Through the Cracks  
_ Prologue  
by  
Sgamer82

It had been just another day for police inspector Sango Yokomizo. A fairly dull one, at that. A theft investigation was the worst of it. No fantastical murder cases this time; and for that, Sango was grateful. It meant he could go home at the end if his day and enjoy a quiet dinner.

He did just that, eventually turning on the television after he'd had enough quiet. He was immediately attracted to a special on some of the previous cases solved by Kogoro Mouri. Mostly this was because he was a fan of the detective. Partly it was because the Night Baron murder, a case he himself had been part of, had been featured.

He groused over the fact nobody had approached him to ask about it. Even with his curly hair, he was fairly photogenic. While he fumed, the show moved on to a much earlier case of Mouri's.

Sango remembered hearing about the Billion Yen Robbery at the time. It had been a daring heist and Mouri's role had apparently been that he was unknowingly hired by one of the culprits themselves to find her missing father, actually one of her accomplices who had backstabbed the others.

On the screen Sango saw the photo he remembered from the newspaper. Mouri was there, along with his daughter Ran and Conan Edogawa. Conan looked more distraught in that picture than he'd ever seen the boy, even in the face of more grisly deaths.

Unbidden, another face appeared in his mind. A crying child's face. A little girl. Sango shook his head, trying to puzzle out why that had come to him.

The narrator discussing the robbery explained that the last suspect, Masami Hirota, had bled to death from a gunshot wound. Her final words, delivered to a witness at the scene, revealed the location of the stolen money. Between this and the fact that the gun which had fired the bullet had only her fingerprints on it, the police on the scene had ruled the woman had committed suicide out of guilt for the crime.

"Masami Hirota... " Sango said absentmindedly. The name sounded familiar, but he could not quite place why. When he considered it, he found himself thinking about Conan Edogawa, as well.

Someone I ran into in relation to the boy? Sango wondered. At that thought, he recalled a man who had died in what appeared to be an accident. It had, in fact, been a "locked room murder."

That was presumably why he thought first of Conan. Neither Mouri nor his daughter had been involved in that case. Instead Conan had been there with another old man he now knew as Hiroshi Agasa and another child.

Again the crying girl's face came into his mind. If Sango remembered correctly, the girl's name was Ai Haibara. During the case she had seemed reserved, only speaking to Conan in whispers until Agasa had begun his summation of the murder. She had then actively asked questions to try and disprove her guardian's theories, which Conan had been demonstrating. Questions Sango himself might have asked had she not beaten him to it.

Once the murder had been solved and the culprit taken into custody, however, the girl's composure broke. She began crying and begging to know why they could solve a murder like that and not save her sister.

 _"You still don't get it? My sister took her pseudonym from Professor Hirota. She's Masami Hirota!"_

Sango found himself suddenly sitting up straight. He looked at the television again. As the segment on the robbery finally concluded, pictures of the three culprits were together in the screen. Sango found himself staring intently at the woman.

As he did, he tried to remember little Ai's face. The features were different, but close enough that Sango thought he could see a family resemblance.

 _Of course, she could just be an adult Ai-chan called 'onee-chan', and not her actual big sister,_ Sango thought. Resemblance aside, a gut feeling told him this wasn't the case. Even if it were the little girl clearly knew the woman enough to cry over her death.

 _So,_ Sango thought, _what are the odds that a child connected to such a major crime would just happen to wind up so close to another child who had gotten mixed up in that same incident?_

"Pretty slim," Sango answered himself out loud. "Who are you really, Masami Hirota?"


	2. Akemi

_**Detective Conan  
**_ _Peering Through the Cracks  
_ Chapter One  
by  
Sgamer82

Days later, Sango found himself at the home of the real Masami Hirota. In his hand was a photo of the fake Masami. Since this investigation wasn't official, Sango was off-duty and he wouldn't necessarily be able to use his position as an inspector to get information. Not without it potentially coming back to bite him later.

That was why he had chosen this route first. Hirota's widow already knew him and might be more willing to answer a question or two than someone at the college the real Hirota had been a professor at.

"Inspector Yokomizo, it is nice to see you again."

In Sango's opinion, Toshiko Hirota seemed to be holding up well. The worst of her grief from her husband's murder seemed to have passed and she greeted him warmly as he entered her home.

"Thank you, ma'am," Sango said. "I don't plan to take up too much of your time. I was just hoping to ask a few quick questions."

Toshiko provided some tea and nodded for Sango to ask what he needed to.

"I've recently taken up a case that involves someone who may have been a student of your late husband," Sango told her. It wasn't exactly a lie, Sango told himself. He held up the picture of the fake Masami Hirota. "Do you know this woman?"

Toshiko studied the photo for a few moments before nodding.

"I do. As you say, she was one of my husband's students. He joined her and some other students on a vacation not long before he -"

Toshiko cleared her throat and took a moment to collect herself.

"I do know her. If memory serves her name is Miyano. Akemi Miyano."

"Are you certain?" Sango asked, his face suddenly very close to Toshiko's. He couldn't believe his luck. He had hoped Hirota's widow might give him a push in the right direction. He never anticipated she would be able to identify her outright.

After Sango composed himself and took a step back, Toshiko considered the photo again for a few moments before nodding.

"I'm sure. I remember because my husband mentioned her that day. The other man, Agasa I believe?"

Sango nodded.

"He was here to collect some pictures from that vacation that were sent to my husband accidentally."

Sango remembered that. The disks with the photos were eventually sent to the Professor a week after the case had been concluded.

"Miyano-san came up in a separate investigation," he said half-truthfully. "What can you tell me about her?"

* * *

Sango came out of that interview with more answers than he'd expected, and new questions to go with them.

From what Toshiko Hirota had said, the fake Masami, now known to be Akemi Miyano, had been a student at the university Professor Hirota taught at. She had indeed spoken of a younger sister on occasion, but from what Sango had gathered the sister was a teenager, not a grade schooler or preschooler. However, Akemi had also boasted of her sister as a prodigy.

 _So does that mean Ai-chan is a third-born child, or did Hirota-san misunderstand and think Akemi-san was referring to an older girl?_

The former explanation was more likely, but having met Ai Haibara, Sango could believe the latter possible. Like Conan, she didn't carry herself at all like a typical six or seven year old. It's possible someone hearing about her would assume she was older. Furthermore, if Ai was the youngest of three girls, where was the middle sister?

The simplest thing would be to go to Beika and ask Hiroshi Agasa about the matter directly. Ai herself would be even better, if Agasa would permit him to question the child. For now he dismissed that idea. Questioning them would just bring up old wounds for Ai. Satisfying his curiosity wasn't worth making her suffer like that again. Until he had a reason to do otherwise, he would keep them out of it.

As he pondered how to proceed, Sango' s phone began to ring. The caller ID identified Sango's younger twin brother, Jugo Yokomizo.

"Hello?" Sango said as he answered the phone.

"Nii-san, it' s Jugo. I just finished that research you asked for. "

"And? "

" And I think you may be on to something, after all," Jugo replied. " Just like you asked, I looked through police records for cases involving Hiroshi Agasa. Specifically, instances where he was instrumental in solving the case. "

"Did anything special come up after you narrowed it down the way I mentioned? "

"It did. I ruled out cases that concerned 'Smoking Kogoro ', as well as cases that did not include all five of those kids Agasa carts around. There was only one I could find that seemed relevant to what you were after. "

" There was?" Sango asked.

" Yes, a murder at an architect' s office. Agasa was there. He had his girl and the Edogawa boy, but not the other three. According to the file I was able to pull up, the victim was Sohei Dejima, age fifty-four. He was poisoned by one of his employees, Tetsuo Imai. "

"Hm ," Sango said. " Jugo, did the name Miyano come up at any point? "

It was rare for Sango to one-up his younger twin in an investigation, but in this case he had managed it. Sango knew because there was a second of stunned silence before he answered.

"Yes," he said. " The house Dejima used for his office had been given to him by a childhood friend of his; a Professor Atsushi Miyano. "

" Professor?" Sango asked.

" Indeed," Jugo replied, obviously seeing where Sango 's thoughts were going. "It seems he was an acquaintance of Agasa 's. It also seems that some time before the murders occurred, Miyano 's daughter had visited the house. "

"Akemi Miyano," Sango said.

"Yes. Also, the date of her visit was just before the One Billion Yen Robbery, " Jugo went on. "Shall I assume Akemi Miyano is Masami Hirota 's real name? "

" I confirmed it speaking to the real Hirota' s widow," Sango told him.

"Hm," Jugo said. " Nii-san, you ve definitely gotten a lead on something, but I don t think it 's what you were originally after. "

"What do you mean? "

"I mean that, based on what I found, it is impossible for Ai Haibara and Akemi Miyano to be siblings. "


	3. Miyano

_**Detective Conan  
**_ _Peering Through the Cracks  
_ Chapter Two  
by  
Sgamer82

"Aren't there better things you could be doing with your time, Inspector?" Kogoro Mouri asked irritably.

"Probably," Sango admitted to the private investigator. "I can't seem to bring myself to let this go, however. On the other hand, there's definitely more to this case than anyone seems to have realized."

Kogoro Mouri sat his desk in his office. He had seemed reluctant to accept Sango's request for an interview, but he'd accepted nonetheless. So, on his next day off, Sango had arrived in Beika, gone to Mouri's office, and laid out what he had learned to the private investigator, hoping the he might know something. Unfortunately, he didn't appear to have paid Ai Haibara much attention.

"Just because the creepy brat can't be this Miyano woman's sister doesn't mean they aren't related," said Mouri.

"Ai-chan rarely talks about her family," said the third person in the room, a high school girl with long brown hair.

"Has she mentioned anything at all, Ran-san?" Sango asked Mouri's daughter.

"Wouldn't it be easier to ask the brat herself about it?" Mouri asked.

"I'm trying to avoid that, right now," Sango replied. "There's no reason to bring it up with her now. Not without a good reason for bringing up something painful for the kid."

Mouri grunted his agreement with the sentiment and took a drink from his beer. Ran, who had been thinking about Sango's question, spoke up.

"I don't know a lot," Ran began. "Most of what I do know is from talking to Ai-chan's friends. She's more open around them than me. I think they've mentioned an older sister and Ai-chan being half-British. When she was telling me about a case at the department store, Ayumi-chan said she heard Ai-chan say her parents died when she was a baby."

"Really?" Sango asked, sitting up straighter. "Curious."

"Why's that?" Ran asked.

"As I told you, my initial thought that Ai-chan and Akemi-san were siblings was proven wrong. The reason it was proven wrong was because of what my brother was able to find about the Miyano family."

Mouri quirked an eyebrow. Ran tilted her head.

"Akemi Miyano's parents both died when she was around eight years old. The obituary Jugo found did mention a second child, Shiho. She was only an infant at the time. She would be about Ran-san's age now. Neither he nor I could find any information on any relatives other than immediate family."

"Then, if there's no other family and Akemi-san's parents died that long ago, it means Ai-chan is too young to be blood-related to Akemi-san?" Ran asked.

"That, or it means the kid's too young to be Akemi Miyano's _sister_ ," Mouri answered, stressing the word "sister".

"That was my thought, as well." Sango nodded. Jugo's, too.

"I don't get it," Ran said.

"Good," Mouri said, which only confused his daughter further. With a sigh, he relented and continued. "At the time the kid was born, Miyano, the older one that is, would have been about your age."

Ran nodded.

"Then picture it," Mouri began, "a young girl still in or barely out of high school. She meets some dashing young man. Things happen, and she gets herself knocked u-uh, pregnant."

Ran blushed and her eyes went wide as she understood.

"You think Akemi-san was Ai-chan's _mother_?" she asked. "But then why would Ai-chan say she's her sister? Or say her parents died?"

"There are a few possibilities, but the simplest reason would be she doesn't know," Sango told her. At Ran's uncertain look, he continued. "It's more common than you might think. The simple fact is that a young girl caring for her two younger sisters is far more acceptable than a young girl with a baby out of wedlock and no father in sight. Assuming the younger sister backed her up, all she would really have to do is lie about when their parents died."

"Plus, if the kid herself only knows the fake story, it means she can't expose it as a lie and ensures she grows up without the stigma of being a bastard," Mouri continued.

Ran sat down and went silent for a few moments while she took that in. Then she suddenly gasped.

"Dad! The video!" she exclaimed.

"Huh?" Mouri blinked.

"That video Mitsuhiko-kun sent us, remember? From when they went camping."

Ran seemed excited at some realization. Mouri seemed to realize what she was referring to as well.

"What is so special about this video?" Sango asked.

"You'll see," Ran said as she took the keyboard and mouse for Mouri's computer. A few clicks later, Sango couldn't believe his eyes.

The Detective Boy Tsubaraya had taken a video of him and two of his friends being rescued from a burning cabin by a woman.

A woman who looked almost exactly like Ai Haibara. The resemblance was uncanny. Sango quickly realized what he was seeing. A girl with a strong resemblance to Ai, approximately Ran Mouri s age. It could mean only one thing.

"Shiho Miyano," Sango muttered. "Akemi Miyano's real younger sister."

"If it weren't for the math, I'd say _she_ was the brat's mother," Mouri said, speaking Sango's own thoughts.

"What's that ring?" Sango asked, noticing the overlarge toy ring on Miyano's finger

"It was a pass for the Bell Tree Mystery Express," Ran told him. "A train with a murder mystery event. Though it ended up being a real murder mystery in the end. The kids all had rings like it, too."

"Including Ai-chan?"

Ran nodded.

"She must've really wanted to come, since I think she was feeling ill. If it was a chance to see her big sister, though..."

Sango nodded. If losing one 'sister' could affect Ai so deeply, she certainly wouldn't let a simple cold prevent her from seeing the other.

 _But why be so roundabout with it?_ Sango asked himself.

"Any other odd behavior?"

"Yes," Ran said, nodding again. "Ai-chan was unusually clingy when we boarded the train."

"Clingy?"

"She held on to me nearly the entire time and kept very close. Later, she disappeared entirely. We found her asleep in one of the other cabins."

"Did you see the woman?" Sango nodded his head toward the computer monitor.

"No." Ran shook her head. "I know the kids didn't either. They wanted to find her and thank her for saving them."

"Did anything happen besides the murder?"

"Kaito Kid was supposed to appear, but there was no sighting of him."

"The caboose exploded," Mouri said. "No one knows why."

"Hmm," Sango considered what he'd been told.

"Thank you," Sango said finally. "Thank you both for your help today."

He stood up and have his hosts a bow.

"If I may impose on you for one more favor?" Mouri and Ran nodded. "Please don't let Conan-kun know we spoke."

Mouri replied with an indifferent "sure", but Ran wanted to know why.

"I was able to track down two instances where just he, Ai-chan, and Professor Agasa were involved in a case, and both times involved Akemi Miyano. I think they're investigating Ai's family and past. If Conan-kun knows I'm looking into it as well, he will likely go to the Professor and Ai-chan, and bring up the painful memories I'm trying to avoid."

"That or give you some kind of runaround so he could nose around it himself," Mouri suggested.

"Dad!" Ran exclaimed on the boy's behalf.

"You know as well as I do the kid likes to play detective," Mouri said. "He'll do whatever it takes to keep someone butting in on 'his' case."

"Either way," Sango said. "Helping Ai-chan discover her family is hardly dangerous, since the Professor is obviously supervising them. I'm fine letting him have 'his case' for the time being."

"I suppose," Ran agreed with clear reluctance.

 _That wasn't quite true,_ Sango thought as he left the detective agency. He didn't want to worry Ran, but Sango had begun to have a distinct feeling there was something more to all this.

* * *

Jugo was waiting for Sango at the hotel room they were sharing. Jugo had also taken some personal time to assist his older twin in his new project. He was going over some paperwork when Sango came in.

"I'm back," Sango announced.

"Anything new?" Jugo asked.

"Yeah." Sango nodded. "I saw Shiho Miyano."

"You what?" Jugo looked up from his paperwork.

"Just a video of her," Sango clarified. "She was filmed saving Ai-chan's friends from a fire. The resemblance was uncanny, Jugo. If she hadn't been about ten when Ai-chan was born I'd swear she was the girl's mother."

"Probably made it easier to say they were sisters," Jugo offered.

"You're right." Sango nodded. "They would only have to say the younger ones took after their British mother. Mouri's daughter also confirmed our theory. Ai-chan's told people her parents died when she was little and she's half-British, rather than quarter."

Jugo nodded.

"Anything else?"

"On the video, Miyano was wearing a ring. It was a pass to some kind of mystery event on a train. Ai-chan had one, too, and went despite being sick. I did some quick research on the matter and some interesting things happened on that train."

"What do you think?" Jugo asked as Sango used his phone to email him some of what he found.

"It sounds like it was some kind of meeting between Ai-chan and Miyano, but " Sango shook his head. "They're being very secretive about it. Ai-chan's friends apparently don't know they're related, as sisters or otherwise. Why all the hiding for a family reunion? There's something fishy here."

"Agreed," Jugo said. "With Akemi Miyano dead and no other family to support them, Shiho and Ai would have been likely to stay together. Instead, the little one is sent off to some acquaintance of her grandfather's while the aunt disappears for parts unknown."

"Perhaps Shiho wasn't prepared to care for a child?" Sango offered.

"Even so, you're right. Why the secrecy? There shouldn't be any reason they couldn't meet openly, since anyone who asked would just be told they're siblings."

"The robbery was a big heist," Sango said. "Big enough that maybe it wasn't just the three robbers behind it."

"Which, at bare minimum, makes Miyano a suspect."

Sango nodded.

"The case was officially closed, so if she was involved Shiho would've been scot-free. The fact that she's still apparently in hiding-"

"-Suggests other movers are involved." Jugo finished. "It may be time to consult the local precinct, Nii-san."

Sango was inclined to agree. They had avoided doing so, thus far. Jurisdiction issues aside, no officer liked having a closed case reopened because he'd apparently missed something the first time around. This was getting big, though. Perhaps too big for just the two of them.

Just as the Yokomizo brothers began making plans to contact the local head inspector, Megure, the phone in their room began to ring. The brothers looked at each other. Neither had made any big announcement of their plans, and they had left their mobile phone numbers as contact information.

"It could just be the front desk," Sango offered.

"Somehow, I don't think so," Jugo replied.

After a few more rings, Sango picked up the receiver.

"Do you enjoy endangering the lives of children, Inspector Yokomizo," the woman said without preamble.

"E-excuse me?" Sango stammered.

"No, I shall not," the voice answered. "You're poking your nose into things you do not understand, Inspector. Continue investigating Akemi Miyano and you won't be the only one who suffers the consequences."

Sango was stunned. It took a lot of nerve to knowingly call a police officer and say something like that. The voice was familiar, like one he had heard before.

"You're Akemi Miyano's sister," Sango said, realizing it sounded similar to Ai's voice. Jugo immediately grabbed a small microphone and passed it to Sango. They had come prepared for the possibility of having to record a phone call. Sango held the mic up near the receiver as Jugo connected the cord to a recorder.

"I am," the woman said. "Let me be perfectly clear on this matter, Inspector, were it just you I wouldn't care, but your blundering is risking the lives of innocents who have nothing to do with any of this."

"And just what is 'this matter'?"

"Something more dangerous than a man who needs a seven year old to solve murders for him can handle."

Sango couldn't help but note the contempt in her tone. Jugo's own eyes narrowed at his brother's expression.

"Now wait a minute-"

"You have no right to indignation, Inspector," said Miyano, cutting him off, "As far as we can tell, you haven't attracted any attention. Yet. That will change if you carry on as you are. A mutual associate would rather this be settled amicably. That in mind, I'm prepared to offer you a deal."

"What kind of deal?"

"I will meet with you, face to face. During that meeting I will answer any questions you have as best I can. In exchange, you and your brother let my older sister rest and quit poking your nose into Ai's and Professor Agasa's affairs."

"If you're in some kind of trouble-" Sango began, only to be interrupted when Miyano laughed.

"No 'if', Inspector, but save your breath. I don't trust the police to help me," she said. "They're too easily compromised. I'll answer your questions and, in return, you stop sniffing around, stay out of our way and out of Ai's life as much as you can help."

Sango hesitated. While he had started this hunt in idle curiosity, he and Jugo had picked up on the possibility of some kind of organization behind the robbery. That seemed the only logical reason why everyone involved was so circumspect in how they moved. Now he had the chance to confirm that group's existence, at the price of promising not to investigate.

"Why would you make this offer?"

"Hanlon's Razor, Inspector. Whatever I may think, our associate knows you aren't being malicious by investigating this. The choice is yours."

"When and where?" he asked.


	4. Shiho

_**Detective Conan  
**_ _Peering Through the Cracks  
_ Chapter Three  
by  
Sgamer82

After the phone call and the promise of answers to his questions, Sango's mood had steadily lifted. At least, it had lifted until he had looked up Hanlon 's Razor . Now he made his way to the location Shiho Miyano had proposed for their face to face meeting. Jugo was parked close in standby. Miyano had not insisted he come alone, only that his brother not involve himself directly. Sango was wearing a wire, with Jugo recording everything that would transpire. If it occurred to Miyano or her acquaintance that he would be bugged, it hadn't come up in Miyano's demands.

Sango had been directed to a quiet part of town. He had arrived just before the time Miyano had given him, in the early evening. Sango assumed he was being watched for almost as soon as he entered the specific alleyway chosen for the meeting, a black sports car appeared at the alley's opposite end, passenger door facing towards Sango. Sango could not see the driver's nor the passenger's faces from where he was.

Sango watched as the passenger side door opened. From the vehicle emerged a woman Sango recognized immediately as Akemi Miyano's sister. Just as when he saw her in the video from the Mouris' computer, he was struck by the clear resemblance to Ai Haibara.

"Greetings, Inspector Yokomizo," the woman said as she approached. "My name is Shiho Miyano."

"Inspector Sango Yokomizo," Sango said. "Though, obviously, you already know that."

"I also know you're as alone as I am," Shiho Miyano said, jerking her head to the car and its driver. "Your brother is just around the corner, right?"

Sango couldn't help but flinch when she revealed she knew that.

"No matter," Shiho said before Sango could respond. "There was no stipulation you come alone, mostly because we knew you'd bring him, anyway."

Shiho crossed her arms and looked at Sango.

"My time is short, so I'll make this quick. You were hoping to learn if there was more to the Billion Yen Robbery than met the eye, correct?"

Sango nodded.

"If you truly want to know, then fine. My associate and I agreed on that much. But be aware you'll need to give up on whatever acclaim or commendation you were aiming for if you agree to listen."

"You think I did all this as a career move?" Sango asked. It was a struggle to keep calm in the face of that accusation.

"Yes," Miyano said simply. "That or idle curiosity. Since endangering innocent lives over that is beyond stupid, I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt."

The woman's scorn was obvious. Sango wondered if she really held the police in such contempt or if it was just him in particular.

"That's the second time you've mentioned endangering innocents," Sango noted. "Why is that?"

"The Billion Yen Robbery wasn't just committed on a whim," Miyano said. "Nor was it done purely for the benefit of the robbers. They worked for an organization. One with a long reach and a _very_ firm belief in maintaining secrecy."

"That included your sister?"

"That included _me_ ," Miyano said with a smirk. "In fact, I was higher ranked than onee-chan."

"'Was'? So no longer, then?"

"Not after they murdered onee-chan." Miyano's expression turned hard. "I demanded answers, and was nearly killed myself just for asking. I fled and soon after came into contact with someone who had also survived the Organization's attempt to silence him. Tell me, Inspector, do you know the name Shinichi Kudo?"

Sango knew the name. Jugo had told Sango of a case Kudo had helped solve via phone call.

"The teenage detective." Sango nodded.

"The very same," Miyano replied. "He needed my help confronting the Organization. I had a price."

"Ai-chan?"

"Correct. The Organization doesn't know about Ai, but that could have changed if they examined things around my sister and I too closely or got a good look at her. As you've no doubt noticed, we share a strong resemblance."

"And so, in exchange for your aid, Ai-chan stays with Professor Agasa to keep her safe?"

"Much like a witness protection program," Miyano confirmed. "Kudo-kun trusts the Professor implicitly. So do I, actually."

"And you're afraid my actions will attract this organization's eye, lead to them finding Ai-chan, and that they will threaten or kill her to get to you?"

"If they haven't already," Miyano told him. "I will not forgive you, Inspector, if you endanger Ai or anyone she cares about. In fact, I should tell you that there is actually one member of the Organization who knows about Ai, but has kept quiet for reasons of her own. I'm sure that if she knew some fool of a police detective was snooping around the Organization's business, she'd deal with you and yours while keeping me and mine out of it."

Sango's eyes went wide.

"Do you think you can just threaten-"

"I can and I will, Inspector!" Miyano's angry retort cut him off. "While I expect Kudo-kun would be outraged, I don't expect I'll lose much sleep over it, myself, if it protects Ai and her friends. I'll say it plainly, Inspector, the lives of those children mean more to me than yours and your brother's."

Sango was silent for several moments while he processed Miyano's words. It was uncommon for a police officer to be threatened so directly, but one look in the young woman's eyes told him she meant every word she'd said.

"Fine," Sango said finally. "You have my word that after tonight I'll pursue this no further. I'd also like to say that, whether you believe me or not, I'm doing it for the kids' sake, not my own."

"I'll grant you that," she replied. Sango noted she didn't actually say she believed him.

"You, however, promised to answer my questions in exchange. There's still a few things I'd like to know, to put my own mind at ease in this matter."

"Fine," Miyano agreed.

"How much does Ai-chan know?"

"That's your first question?" Miyano asked.

"My brother and I have encountered Ai-chan a few times. I should probably know what to avoid letting slip around her or, particularly, Conan-kun. He'd start looking for these guys himself if he heard about them."

"That he would," Miyano said, showing a genuine smile. Then she sighed. "Ai knows more than any seven year old should. She knows her sister is dead and she's with the Professor to hide her from the people responsible for that. She knows I'm around, though I myself rarely appear in person."

"You're watching over her though," Sango said. "How else could you have been there to save then from that fire?"

"How else indeed?" Miyano said vaguely.

"And the Mystery Express? You had one of those rings, too."

"Yes," Miyano said. "You're aware the train's caboose was destroyed?"

Sango nodded.

"It wasn't my original intention, but Kudo-kun learned the Organization was expecting me and took the opportunity to deceive it into believing I had been killed for my betrayal." To Sango's surprise, Miyano grinned. "I'll let you imagine the earful I gave him after I realized how much he'd put us at risk with that stunt."

Given the way she could speak when otherwise calm, Sango decided he didn't wish to see her truly angry.

"Just what is this Organization you keep mentioning?"

"A syndicate, Inspector," Miyano replied. "A syndicate with, in their minds, lofty goals that willingly embraces far less lofty methods. I worked in one of their drug labs, as did my parents before me, until onee-chan died."

"Drug labs?"

"I'm eighteen years old, Inspector, but I am a fully credentialed biochemist and pharmacologist."

Sango could only stare at Miyano.

"If you don't believe me, it's easy to find. I don't recommend doing so, however. Investigating that would surely invite the Organization's attention to you, and you would have broken your word."

"Why not seek the police's help, or any other law enforcement group?"

"I told you that before," Miyano said, "Too much potential for them to be compromised. For me to be detected. This group has a reach you can not imagine. Anyone from a cafe's barista to a movie star could be among their members and you would never know it. If it's any consolation, it isn't just the police. I turned down protection from the FBI, too."

"The FBI?"

"Indeed." Miyano nodded. "They have agents here, ostensibly on vacation but really investigating the Organization. I won't tell you who they are, they've earned that much, but they aren't hard to find if you know where to look."

"I see…" Sango said. "So, this Oganization, is there no way to identify its members? You can't tell us about the ones you already know about?"

"I won't tell you about the ones I know about, because then you'll only go looking for them and bring everything I'm afraid of to pass. There are, however, two things that reliably identify the Organizations' active members."

"There is?"

"Yes, and in telling you this, Inspector Yokomizo, I offer you a warning. If you ever encounter individuals dressed in black and referring to one another with code names based on liquors and wines, run. Run, Inspector, because if you're close enough to notice them doing that, you're already in danger."

With that, Miyano turned away and re-entered the car that had brought her to the meeting, and drove away.


	5. Ai

**_Detective Conan  
_** _Peering Through The Cracks  
_ _Chapter Four  
_ By  
Sgamer82

The next day Sango sat alone in the park. He planned on taking the evening train home, since he wanted time to digest everything he'd learned last night.

As Sango sat he happened to see Ai Haibara and her friends arrive. They didn't seem to notice him. He relaxed, watched them play, and thought about what Shiho Miyano had told him. He thought about criminal organizations deeply embedded in various parts of society. It all sounded so unbelievable, but if there was even a chance of her telling the truth, he couldn't proceed with an investigation. Not yet. Not unless he could avoid violently upturning the lives of those five children and whoever else might be caught in the middle of such a conflict.

Jugo believed Shiho Miyano had been sincere. He had questioned enough suspects in his career that he was convinced Miyano had believed every word she'd said. Whether that meant there really was an organization of men in black or Miyano was just extremely paranoid was harder to say, but Jugo ultimately believed it did exist. Sango suspected it was Shinichi Kudo's involvement that convinced him. He'd only been in contact with Kudo over the phone, but the boy's skill as a detective was real. It was unlikely he would be part of whatever he and Miyano were involved in unless there was actually something to it.

Sango's thoughts were interrupted by a sensation he was being watched. He'd been so lost in thought he had not realized most of the children had left for home already. All but one.

"Inspector Yokomizo?" Ai Haibara said. Her voice was muffled by a cold mask and what was probably a stuffy nose.

"Oh, um, Ai-chan. Hello," Sango replied, a bit lamely.

"I heard you spoke to Shiho-neesan last night," she told him. Sango wanted to ask how she'd known that, only to remember Miyano saying Ai knew more than a child her age should.

"I did," he told her. "She was very intense"

"That sounds right." Ai nodded.

"I take it then you saw her yourself?"

Ai nodded again.

"That must've been nice," Sango offered. Ai shrugged.

"I was never really part of Shiho-nee-san s life, to be honest," Ai said. "Not until I started living with Professor Agasa. Even since then, I haven t seen her often. I thought I was going to see her in the Mystery Express, but that didn't work out."

 _I don't imagine it did,_ Sango thought to himself.

"You don't need to worry about us," Ai told Sango "Shiho-nee-san believes Shinichi-san will stop the bad guys."

"That may be," Sango acknowledged. "Still, I do wish there was more I could do to help."

"I was there when neesan was talking to Shinichi-san," Ai said. "He was saying he thought bringing you and your brother in further might not be a bad idea. Nee-san was against it, though."

"I bet she was," Sango said with a chuckle.

"He asked me if I saw you or your brother to let you know he'd be in touch," Ai told him.

"I'll let my brother know. For now," Sango looked up and realized the sky was turning orange with the sunset. "I need to get going or I'll miss my train home. You probably need to be getting home, too, Ai-chan."

Ai nodded her acknowledgment. She gave Sango a polite bow.

"Good bye, Inspector Yokomizo."

"Good bye, Ai-chan, and be well."

The little girl turned and left in the direction of Professor Agasa's house, leaving Sango to rush to the station before he missed his train home.

* * *

 _Understood. We'll suspend our investigation for the immediate future._

Jugo's text was straight to the point, Sango thought once he had returned home. Much like the man himself.

While Sango's younger twin thought he was being overly sentimental, he hadn't objected to holding off on their search into the Organization that Shiho Miyano spoke of. He didn't want to see those kids hurt because of their actions any more than Sango did.

Sango had passed on Ai's message. The brothers agreed to give Shinichi Kudo a few weeks to respond to them before taking any further action.

It was strange how a single crack in one girl's mask of pain had led to this. But, by peering into that crack, Sango had put himself and Jugo in a position to, he hoped, bring down this Organization. That would have to come later, however. For now, the Yokomizos would bow to the experience of the high school detective and teenage scientist who were apparently far better versed in this group's workings than they were. There was little else they could do, without risking themselves, those close to them, and others.

Sango wondered if the Mouris knew anything about this. The fact that he and Jugo were contacted soon after Sango visited them indicated that's how Kudo and Miyano had become aware of them. Ran didn't seem to know anything, as far as Sango could tell. She was too out of the loop regarding Ai to be aware of anything of note. If she had known, she would never have shown Sango that video of Miyano. Mouri was a possibility. A detective agency would be an ideal place, outside of normal law enforcement, to be able to keep track of cases that might lead, however indirectly, to the Organization.

 _Could "Sleeping Kogoro" ultimately be an act?_ Sango thought. _A gimmick to spread his name and help them find more cases that might link to those people?_

Jugo did not hold Mouri in the same esteem his brother did. He had even told Sango that he had more respect for Conan Edogawa's deductive ability than Kogoro Mouri's. The kid was definitely a detective in his own right. In fact, just like Shiho and Ai, Conan bore a strong resemblance to Shinichi Kudo, as Sango learned when he had looked up the teenage detective after his meeting with Miyano.

Sango yawned. These past few days had been draining. Sango was glad he had one last day of personal time before he had to report back at the precinct. As took himself to bed and began to drift off, a ridiculous thought crossed Sango's mind.

There was as great a resemblance between Conan Edogawa and Shinichi Kudo as there was between Ai Haibara and Shiho Miyano. Perhaps, rather than some roundabout familial relationship, the two children and the two teenagers were one in the same.

 _Well, it's not as if I ever saw them in the same place at the same time,_ Sango thought with a chuckle as sleep finally took him.

* * *

 **Authors' Notes** : One of the fun parts of writing these past couple chapters is Shiho's/Ai's dialogue. If you look closely you'll notice that she does not tell any outright lies. Nearly everything she says, such as Ai not being part of Shiho's life before she came to Professor Agasa's, is technically true.


	6. Epilogue

**_Detective Conan  
_** _Peering Through the Cracks  
_ _Epilogue  
_ By  
Sgamer82

"I'm home," Ai Haibara, returning from speaking with Sango Yokomizo, announced as she walked into Professor Agasa's home.

"Welcome back, Ai-chan," a woman's voice called. Haibara sighed as she walked into the kitchen and saw Yukiko Kudo standing at the stove. She certainly seemed to be enjoying herself as she prepared dinner.

"You really didn't have to-" Haibara began.

"Nonsense," Yukiko interrupted. "I'm here already, so why not?"

Yukiko set a lid on the pot and walked over to Haibara. In vain, Haibara tried to push Yukiko's hands away as she placed one over Haibara's forehead.

"We've been over this," Haibara tried to tell her. "It's just a cold. Using an antidote weakens the immune system. We briefly get sick afterward."

Apparently unsatisfied with the word of the creator of the drug whose effects she worried about, Yukiko insisted on at least checking Haibara for a temperature before informing her that the Professor and Kudo were downstairs.

The first thing she did upon arriving in the Professor's basement lab was glare at Shinichi Kudo. She didn't know what they were discussing, but she was sick, annoyed, and disagreeable enough that she didn't much care.

"Kudo-kun, would you please have a word with your mother?" she asked. "Her hovering is getting tiresome."

"Sorry about that," Kudo replied. "Actually, I did talk to her." Kudo shrugged. "I think, for her sake, you're just going to have to put up with it until she leaves."

"Fine," Haibara said with a sniff she could only hope came as derisive rather than stuffy. "I still wish you had warned her beforehand about what changing was like for us. Or at least warned _me_ you'd never told her."

The sight of Yukiko Kudo's horrified expression following Haibara's taking a temporary antidote to APTX-4869 was one that Haibara would not be forgetting soon. Yukiko had handled the reversion to seven year old size better, but at the time had made a point of making Haibara as comfortable as possible before the antidote was set to wear off. All things considered, Haibara decided she could put up with some excessive doting if it helped Yukiko get over the shock.

"I didn't want to worry her," Kudo said to Haibara. "Given how she's been, I think that was justified."

"And, as a bonus, all her maternal instinct gets focused on myself rather than on you?" Haibara asked with a raised eyebrow.

Kudo neither confirmed nor denied her accusation. Haibara herself couldn't decide which one would have irritated her more, so she let the matter drop.

"In any case, message delivered," Haibara said with a sniff. "The Yokomizo brothers will be expecting Shinichi Kudo to contact them soon."

"Perfect," Kudo said. "How long do you think we should wait for?"

"Were it up to me, I would wait until hell froze over before bringing them into this."

"Now, Ai-kun," the Professor began to admonish. Haibara glared at him for a few moments until he decided it would be prudent not to test her.

"Don't be like that," Kudo told her, less perturbed than the Professor. "The fact is the two of them actually began picking up on links to the Organization based off nothing more than what they saw as a kid getting emotional."

Narrowed eyes were added to Haibara's glare.

"My point is they could be strong allies, if we bring them in. In fact, I wonder if you weren't too aggressive with them before. It might affect their willingness to work with us later."

"Nonsense," Yukiko's voice said as she descended the stairs. "Ai-chan, excuse me, Shiho-chan was trying to protect her last living relative from the dangers that killed her sister, her niece's mother. If you were going to convince them to back off even briefly, then there was no such thing as too far. That 'their lives mean more to me than yours' was a good touch, by the way."

This last was directed at Haibara, who shrugged.

"I said nothing I didn't mean," she told Yukiko, then turned to Kudo. "If you're going to insist on this recklessness, Kudo-kun, then three or four weeks minimum. That will be the least amount of time for the Organization to notice if any 'tripwires' or alarms were triggered by the Yokomizos' actions and act against them if they're deemed a threat. It's also plenty of time for one or both brothers to decide if they are going to keep their word or not so we can determine if they're trustworthy."

"I see." Haibara didn't like the look Kudo gave her as he said that. Well that was just too bad. Yukiko, noticing the tension rising, intervened as peacemaker by changing the subject.

"I was just coming down to let you know dinner is ready. It's mostly healthy foods so Ai-chan can recover quickly." Haibara rolled her eyes. "But I tried to mix in a few things the Professor said you liked." Yukiko finished, noting Haibara's reaction.

Yukiko went back up to start setting places, the ever hungry Professor close behind. As Haibara and Kudo began to ascend the steps Kudo spoke up.

"I'm not entirely thrilled at the idea of bringing in people like this either, Haibara," he told her. "The fact is, however, they've already gotten in. Telling them the truth, once we can be reasonably sure it's safe, is the best thing we can do now for their sakes and ours."

"Kudo-kun ..." Haibara was no longer in a mood for discussing this. She released an irritated sigh and waved her hand at him. "Fine. Do what you want. It's not as if you aren't going to anyway. For now, I'll just consider us fortunate that you keep that detective's office bugged so you can keep track of his cases. At least that let us know what he thought he knew."

"We were also lucky that my mom was around to coach you on acting sufficiently different as Shiho compared to Haibara," Kudo added.

"And to come up with this scheme to play to their theories in the first place," Haibara conceded. "On that note, I'll add some gratitude that at least I'm simply my own niece rather than that convoluted nonsense you were saddled with."

This time it was Kudo's turn to glare as Haibara went upstairs.

"Hey, now " he said.

"What was it again? Father's brother's nephew's cousin's something-or-other"

"Let's just go eat," Kudo said.

 _ **The End**_

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** The basis of this story was formed by wondering just what kind of theory characters might come up with without knowing about the age-change factor. The TV Trope that covers this sort of thing is called "Entertainingly Wrong", where a character comes up with a perfectly valid theory that turns out to be wrong mainly because the character wasn't privy to some special information.

Also, there's an aspect in my own real life in this story. The "elder sister actually being a biological mother" is actually my own situation. I tend to explain it more as being raised by my grandmother, but not actually being made aware of this fact until I was eighteen.


End file.
